Steam-engine.



T. GANDERTON.

STEAM ENGINE.

PPLIOATIOH FILED DB0. s. 1910.

ymarran srafrns PATENT ornion.

THOMAS GANDERTON, OF (.lIlVIllLAND,l OHIO, ASSIG-NOR OF ONE-HALF TO CONRAD MUELLER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lIar. 10, 1914,.v

.Application ma December 5, 1910. serial No. 595,820'.

T0 all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS GANDER'roN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Engines, of which I hereby declare the following to be ay full, clear, andeXact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appert-ains to make and use the same.

The objects of the invention are to provide an improved form of steam actuated engine, in which a reciprocating piston operates torot'ate a screw threaded shaft, having reversely formed spiral grooves therein.`

In this invention movement is communicated 'from the piston to the shaft by -means of nuts which are alternately rotatable and rotatably Xed inthe piston andengage they of parts and construction of details as here-V inafter described, shown in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1- is a central vertical section `of the device; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the engine,showing a different cam movement from that shown in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section `of one of thenuts;

In these Iviews 1 is a steam cylinder -having a steam inlet port 21 at each end and a central exhaust port 22. 2 is a screw threaded shaft which is rotatable in the cylinder heads 13 and 14. 3 is a piston sleeved over and slidingly movable on the shaft; 4 and 5 are the right andleft spiral grooves in the shaft between the cylinder heads.

At each side of the piston is shown nuts suc'l as 6 and 7. Each -nut is attached to the piston to rotate freely by means of Aan annular shoulder 18 providin a groove 18 in which a plate 17 is secure The nuts rotate freely. on the shaft until operatively secured to the piston. Toalternately secure them from movement so they; will regate the shaft as the piston advances a slidl fg rod or sliding rods 9, 9 are inserted in the piston and are preferably long enou h to pass through the piston and through tie openings 15, 15 in one of the nuts and leave a portion projecting.

Each rod 9 is designed to connect only one nut at a time with the piston, the other nut at that time being free to rotate. 11, 11 are pins adpistably secured in the cylinder heads 1n almement with the rods 9, 9, so that the rods Will strike against the pins at each end of the piston stroke and will be pushed backf Ward and forward thereby. Each nut may havea number of openings 15 therein annularly arranged so that the pins 9, 9 will always enter them.

To preventthe piston from rotating a guide rod 16 may pass through it into the cylinder heads.

In Fig. 1 the steam is shown admitted through an ordinary slide valve 20 through steam ports 21, 21 and exhausted at the port. 22. The valve is operatively connected with the shaft so that the movements of the shaft and valve will be suitably timed relative to each other. Mechanism vfor accomplishing this -coperation of parts is shown in both of the figures. In Fig. 1 a spur gear 23 on the piston'shaftdrives a similar gear 24 upon a counter shaft-25 and a cam 26 on this shaft operates the valve stem 27. The

relative throw of valve and the period of its operation are readily controlled by the cam and thenumber of revolutions of the shaft to the piston' and valve strokes can be controlled by the number of turns of the spiral grooves and relative sizes of the gears.

In Fig. 2 the cam movement is modified and the valve stem is operated by means of a rock arm 28. Any convenient mechanism for the purpose. of operating the engine valve or valves may be employed without departing from the scope of the claims.

In Fig. 3 the construction-of one of thenuts is shown. f

The operation-*of the ldevice may be described as follows: The steam entering one end of the cylinder as at the right willmove the piston toward the opposite or left end from which the steam is being exhausted. The rods 9, 9 are pushed forward and will then operatively connect the piston with the disk nut 7 but do not enter the disk nut 6 and since neither piston or nut 7 can revolve the lug on the nut 7, will traverse the rods 9, 9, entirely from the disk nut 7. At

this time the valve is shifted and the steam then enters behind the piston and drives it to the right. The disk nut 6 is then operatively connected with the piston and will rotate the shaft until the rods 9 are pushed back by encounterin the pins 1Q and the disk nut 7 is pulled a ong meanwhile by the kpiston and is then free to rotate freely on the shaft. This action is constantly repeated. In this manner the nuts are always in engagement with 'the shaft but are alternately connected in an operative manner with the piston by meansof the rods 9, 9. They are always attached to the piston to revolve therein by means of the shoulders 18a and plates 17, 17. The shaftin rotating operates the valve by means of the cam and gearing hereinbefore mentioned to reverse the movements of the piston at the rightmoment.

Having described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I 1. In a steam ton shaft therefor, said piston shaft being provided with right and left spiral grooves, a piston slida'bly movable on said shaft, a disk nut on each side of said piston,each nut rotatably secured thereto, one nut engaging a right spiral groove and the other nut engaging a left spiral groove in said shaft, a rod slidably mounted in said piston and adapted to engage said piston with one of the said disk nuts and simultaneously to release the other nut when going in one direction, and to reverse said movement when going in the opiosite direction, means for operating said ro as-said piston nears the respective lim. 'its of its stroke, to release the nut 1t 1s en-v gaging and to'engage the other one, and means for alternately admitting steam to opposite ends of saidcylinder, said means operatively connected with said iston shaft.

2. In a steam engine, a cylin er, a piston shaft therein, a reciprocating p1ston slidingly vmounted on said-shaft, said piston said piston reciprocates, means for preventengine, a cylinder and pist0 release one disk from the piston and to shaft being provided with right and yleft spiral grooves, rods slidingly mounted in said piston, a nut on each side of said piston rotatably connected therewith, said nuts provided with openings registering with said rods, said rods of a length adapted to connect with said piston operatively with one disk nut at a. time and pins projectinginwardly from the cylinder head, adapted to engage in turn-With said rods, to push them out of one nut and into engagement with the other nut and alternately reverse said movement as said piston reciprccates.

.3. In a steam engine, in combination, a cylinder, having steam ports and a valve, a piston reciprocable therein, a shaft on which said piston moves, said shaft. being provided with right and left spiral grooves, a nut 0n eachside of said piston means for rotatably connecting said pistonfwith said disk nuts, rods inserted in'said piston and adapted to alternately connect said piston with said nuts, adjustable pins in the cylinder heads in alinement with said rods and adapted to alternately engage said rods in said piston as ingthe iston from rotating, a shaft adjacent to t e engine shaft gearing operatively connecting said shafts and a cam onv the adjacent shaft, said cam operatively connected with said valve. l

4. The combination with thel reciprocating piston' and cylinder of a steam engine, of a shaft passing through said piston and cylinder, said shaft being provided with right and left spiral grooves, a disk sleeved on said shaft on each' side of said piston, an annular extension on each disk extending into said piston, said extension havin an annular groove, a plate on each side o the piston, said plate engaging one of said grooves, a lug on each disk engaging one of said spiral grooves, a rod slidingly movable in said piston, adapted to alternately con` nect said piston in an operative manner with said -disks' andl when so connected to pre- 'vent them from turning, and a pin longitudinally projecting from each cylinder head and adapted to engage alternate ends 0f said rod at the ends-of said piston stroke,

operlatively connect the other disk there- Wit In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand this 29th day of November, 1910.

. THOMAS'GANDERTON.

r In presence of WM. M. MONROE,

Gmo. S. COLE. 

